Burning Fate
by animeclicker
Summary: Marco wasn't expecting such a warm welcome from the firefighter group and wasn't expecting to find someone that caught his attention
1. Prologue

His arms touched the cold marble counter and his body shivered. It was only five in the morning but his job was made of things like this. A cup of coffee, two spoons of sugar and a third cup of soy milk, that's all he ever drank in the morning. The toaster popped a warm slice of toasted bread that he ended up spreading with butter. The sweet smell of the toasted bread filled up the kitchen.

-Another day. – He said to himself while drinking his coffee and eating his toast. – Maybe I should get ready for work. – Jean was only wearing his pajama pants, showing off his toned torso and his muscled arms.

The apartment was awfully lonely and at time of the day it made Jean sad that he had nobody to pull him back to bed and say "_Stay here…it's cold outside_", he had it all planned in his head. He opened up the windows and the moon was still up, the stars shined bright and gave the apartment a beautiful yet scary look.

Jean got to his room and stared himself at the mirror. – I look awful today. Maybe I should shower first? – He looked at the clock and he still had 1 hour to work. – Yeah.

After a quick shower, Jean got out of his bathroom wearing only his towel which quickly dropped to the ground when he found himself some boxers to wear. He then opened up his closet and took out his firefighter uniform that consisted on a blue t-shirt, a pair of dark pants with golden details at the bottom, some red braces for his pants and a leather jacket that he would only use until he got to work.

With his wallet and keys on his pockets, he looked one final time to the clock. – Still have 30 minutes left, not bad Jean, not bad. – He caught the elevator to the underground park and got on his motorcycle and drove to the Maria Firefighter center, right in the middle of the city. It only took him 15 minutes to get there and it was almost empty.

-Good morning. – He said to Armin that appeared at the gate. Armin used to go to work by foot since he lived almost in front of the center.

-Morning. – The blonde said with a big smile. – Ready for today?

-You mean ready for another 10 hours of doing absolutely nothing and slowly dying while the sun burns me to death? No. – He responded with a smile.

Armin laughed but he knew that, if there wasn't a fire or someone almost dying, they would stay inside the center all day, doing nothing and just staring at the sun. – Is Eren here yet?

-I have no idea, I just got here too. – Armin nodded and entered the main building where he would be doing some important paperwork and Jean entered one of the side buildings.

No one was still there. There were still 10 minutes left until 6, the hour that they all should be there.

Jean spotted his normal chair and just sat there until anyone arrived. 5 minutes passed and the sound of heels started to echo through the building. It was one of his bosses for sure.

-How come no one's here yet? There's only 5 minutes left for them to arrive! – She looked around and spotted Jean. – You there. – She pointed. – Come here.

-Yes ma'am? – He was almost asleep and the sound of her heels made him stay awake so Jean was not very happy about it.

-Where's the rest?

-Armin's in the main building taking care of some paperwork and I don't really know about the rest. – He sighed. She was such a beautiful lady but with such a scary and weird personality.

-Well, when the rest of the group appears, tell them to go my office. We have some issues to care of. I'm going to tell Armin.

-Hanji! – Someone yelled. – Come downstairs, we've got things to do.

-Going! – She yelled back. – Don't forget.

-I won't ma'am.

When she walked away, Jean went to his chair to grab his leather jacket and took it to his locker on the first floor. There was a paper there that said that "_From now on, you'll share this locker with the new trainee." _and the signature was from the main boss, Levi Ackerman. – For fuck sake. – When he opened his locker, there were some stuff there already, a jacket, a book about the three main firefighters center and a handkerchief. – Oh c'mon, man. – He threw his jacket inside and slammed the door shut.

He heard a car drive in the main gates and saw that Mikasa, Eren and Sasha were inside; the only one left was Connie, he was always late so Jean already thought ahead and placed a stick-note on his locker.

Mikasa stopped the car right next to him and hopped off.

-Good Morning Jean. – She said, re-arranging her red scarf.

-Hi! – Sasha said, waving frantically. – I'm so ready for today.

-You guys are also late and Hanji asked us to go to her office. – He said to all. – And Good Morning.

-Oh, shut up Jean. We still have some time left. – Eren said looking at him while he straightened his clothes. – Why don't you go fuck with someone else and leave us alone?

-Listen here, you little fucker, our squad is being watched since the shit you did the last fire we had to put out remember? Remember the shit you did? – Everyone started to feel down and Eren was shocked. Sasha was faintly crying while holding on to Mikasa's hand and Mikasa was staring blankly at Jean. – Yeah…I thought so. So, shut the fuck up if you don't want to get fired and take your head out of your ass for one second. - Eren's hand started to trace the scar he had on his right arm and everyone was just quiet. – Let's go. I already left a note on Connie's locker.

The four of them walked to the main building where they got Armin and went upstairs and waited for Hanji to call them inside.

-What you did down there was fucked up, Jean. – Mikasa said. – You brought way too many memories that we agreed that wouldn't be brought up again.

-I'm sorry okay? – He said staring at the door of Hanji's office. – Your brother pisses me off and I just explode and you know he was way too fucking rude.

Hanji's door opened. – Come in. – She said and walked back to her chair. - There was a strange figure standing there. He was tall, had short black hair and was clearly out of place and nervous. – You may have asked yourselves why I asked you to come here, to my beautiful office. – Everyone just looked around and got a shiver over their bodies. The walls were painted with a strong black color and here and there were pictures of fires and images of Hanji fighting the fires. – Well, the Maria Center has the pleasure of presenting you with the new trainee who'll be working with you.

-Hi. I'm Marco – He said. He had freckles and a cute smile spread over his face. Sasha couldn't help but smile and wave back to him.

-He'll be working with you five….where's Connie?

-Late…again. – Sasha said.

Hanji wrote that down and continue talking. – Well, you have to show the newbie around and teach him how we do the things around here. – She said and everyone went silent. – Jean, Armin and Mikasa, you'll be in charge of teaching him all about the paperwork, our standard methods of fighting the fires and driving. – Jean, of course, was the one that had to teach him about the standard methods of saving. – Okay you may go now. – Everyone said their goodbyes, thanked and walked out of the room. – Oh and Jean! – Hanji said. – You'll have to….

-Yeah I already know about it. – He said and closed the door.

Outside the office everyone was presenting themselves to the trainee. Sasha was radiant about him, Armin was just being Armin which means he was being the nice guy, Eren was smiling and telling him some tips and Mikasa was normal, not a smile, nothing, she said her name and that she would teach him how to drive the trucks and nothing more.

-And you? – The trainee asked directly to Jean. – Who are you? I need to know your name since you're the one that's going to show me around and teach some shit.

Jean scoffed. – I'm Jean and you are?

-Marco. Marco Bodt. – He said smiling and combing his hair with his fingers.

-So…Trainee got it. For me, you'll be Trainee, so memorize it. – The smile upon Marco's face disappeared to give space for a confused face mixed with some angry feelings. – Come on, we have things to do, Trainee.


	2. Chapter 1

-This is the main building as you can see. – Jean said when they got outside. – This is only one of…

-Of the three main centers in this country. – Marco interrupted. – Yeah, I already know that. Hanji gave me a book explaining some of the story behind this center. Don't worry about it. – Marco said smiling.

-Oh…we have a smart one here, I see. – Jean raised one eyebrow and continued walking along the walls of the center. – So, tell me. How many bosses have we here?

-In this center or in the entire centers?

-I don't know, you tell me.

-We have 2 in this center and 8 in the country.

-Who are our bosses?

-Levi Ackerman and Hanji Zoe.

Marco was smiling brightly. He knew almost everything about the centers, their history, how many buildings each one has, the amount of firefighters…everything.

-So. – Jean said entering the main room and sitting next to Armin which was taking care of some paperwork. – Tell Armin about the history of this building.

-Why me? – Armin asked not taking his eyes out of the papers. – You're the one who's in charge of taking care of the newbie. – He looked up and saw Marco looking at him with a weird face. – Sorry Marco but you're a newbie.

-Just let me see what he knows about this center and we'll leave you alone.

-Ugh, fine, go ahead. – Armin said. – Tell me all you know.

-According to some books, this center was the first one to be created and its duty…our duty is to protect the outermost part of the city. Our symbol is a profile face of a Lady. Lady Maria, the first one who had the idea of creating this. They were three sisters, Maria, Sina and Rose. They are the president kids and, when they got older enough, they all joined the firefighters. Maria ended up creating this center with the help of her father; Sina created one more inside the city, its duty is to protect the people from inside fires and help the younger people and, finally, Rose. Rose didn't actually build up anything. The last center, which is located in the middle of the city, is used to protect the president. Some say that, a long time ago, the center was actually used by firefighters but now is used by the police. The president was loved by everyone and so were his daughters but with time, and with the death of the family, presidents started to change the centers each time that's why the Rose Center is used by the police. The middle of the city is one of the most peaceful but the presidents are always scared of what might happen.

-And what do you think about our job?

-The Maria firefighter's job is to fight any fire from the outside our city since we are surrounded by trees and grass. We are the most important thing in this city, if we fail, the city faces a great danger and we'll have to ask for help from the other centers which will lead to a crime wave inside the city.

-What about the way this center was constructed?

-It was built has a big square. In the top left, we have the main building because it's the most far away corner from the fires; in the down right corner we have our building – Marco said pointing to the three. – because we need to hurry up and fight the fires and at the upper right corner, we have the mini hospital so we can have some kind of treatment.

-Is this right? – Jean whispered to Armin while looking at the serious face that Marco had.

-Yes, it is. – Armin said looking back at his papers. – Go away, I have things to do and so do you guys.

-Let's go, Trainee. – Jean said and walked out the main building.

-Thank you Armin. – Marco said smiling.

-Yeah, whatever.

Jean and Marco stood right in the middle of the center and the newbie looked around and admired how big everything was. They were the poorest ones of the three centers but everything was in great conditions and it was so big. The main building was three storages high and was full of offices and, at the top, it had a helicopter pad; the building on the other side of the center was also three storages high and it was here they would rest and take breaks while there was nothing to do. It had a gym, a couple of bathrooms, a park for the cars and a lounge room. The building at the end of the center was just a mini hospital, in case one of them got injured during training.

-When do I start to learn about all the things around here? – Marco asked excited.

-Oh no…don't think you'll just get to it like that. – Jean said laughing. – You'll have to go through Armin first, to learn all about the paperwork needed for our job. We all had to do that. Just thank the gods you have Armin, because we all had to it with Hanji and she's disorganized as fuck. – Jean was not lying. Hanji is one of the most disorganized bosses ever. She was a good teacher but it was hard to know all about the civic rights, the fire extinguisher procedures and what equipment we have to use to fight a specific kind of fire. – So you can go to him again.

Marco sulked and walked very slowly to the main building where Armin was working. Jean went back to his comfortable chair on the first floor. – This is more like it. – He said sitting down. – No Trainee, no paperwork, it's sunny and I can finally sleep for a bit. – Jean started to close his eyes and the bell rang.

-Jean! – Sasha yelled. – C'mon we have an emergency, there's no need to dress up!

Jean quickly ran the downstairs and into the ambulance. The sun was bright up in the sky. It was 10 in the morning and things were already crazy. – Where are we going? – He asked Mikasa which was driving.

-The ones on the Rose center are having some problems with the cars we were called to go help an elderly couple. She fell down the stairs and he's in a wheelchair so he can't do anything.

-Who made the call? – Sasha asked.

-One of the neighbors. – Mikasa was driving recklessly through the streets and all the cars were opening a way for her. She was one of the best when it comes to driving. – We have to hurry, she might be severely injured.

They all had a serious face on. It was now or never. They would have to hurry up to save the old lady.

Mikasa finally got to the place and Jean and Sasha jumped out of the ambulance and ran into the building where the old lady was. At the bottom of the stairs was a young man helping the old lady up. – Ma'am, are you okay?

-She can't talk properly since she fell down.

-Sasha, go get the gurney I'll try to stop the bleeding from her head. – Sasha ran to the ambulance.

-Start the car; we'll only be there for a couple of minutes. – Sasha said while putting her hair in a ponytail. The gurney slid right off and she hurried next to Jean.

-She has a back problem, and I think she has one or more ribs broken. We can't do much; we'll have to go straight to the hospital.

They counted to three and got the old lady on to the gurney and made her lay down carefully. Sasha rushed her to the ambulance and yelled for Mikasa to go to the hospital leaving Jean behind with the husband.

-Is he okay? – Jean said out of breath. – The husband, I mean.

-He's upstairs.

-What's your name?

-Sonny.

-Well, Sonny, can you help me with the husband? – He asked smiling. – I need to make a call first.

-Sure, fine.

Jean went to the door and called Connie. The phone rang multiple times until he answered. – Where the fuck are you!?

-In bed?

-Do you know what time it is? You're so fucking late, dude.

-Holy shit! I'm so sorry! – Jean could hear him panicking on the other side. The sound of clothes hitting the floor was the only thing he could hear now. – I'm going right now!

-Don't bother, go directly to the hospital. Mikasa and Sasha are there.

-Okay.

They both hang up and Jean and Sonny went up the stairs to the first floor. – Sir? – A man in a wheelchair stood still looking straight at the TV. – Is he usually like this? – Jean whispered to Sonny.

-I have no idea. – Sonny said while scratching the backside of his neck. – They barely go out, they have some family and they come here and give them the stuff they need. That's all I know, sorry.

-It's good. – Jean said walking towards the wheelchair. A weird smell took his nose by assault and he was horrified. – I think I know what she was going to do. Please call 911….quickly.


	3. Chapter 2

Meanwhile, in the center, Marco and Armin were on an intensive run about every procedure that was needed to do everything. Marco had a big pile of papers next to him and his hair was all messed up.

-So, let me see if I got it right. – Marco said while reading the paper in front of him. – When and if there's a fire in the center, I'll have to call someone in a bigger charge than mine so they can use the extinguisher?

-No, no, no. – Armin said grabbing his paper and tossing it in the trash can. – You'll have to call someone in a bigger charge than you if and only if you suspect that someone from inside started the fire. – Armin said while Marco wrote all down. – If there's a fire in the Center you'll have to extinguish quickly, we have lots of flammable things here and it would be dangerous to let it spread.

-Ah, I see.

-Armin! – A manly voice echoed through the Center. – Come here.

-Oh boy…something's wrong for sure. – Armin said. – Come with me, it's an excellent opportunity for you to get to know the one in charge here.

-But I already know Miss Hanji. – Marco said confused.

-Oh…it's not Hanji. – Armin said while getting up and patting his shoulder so he would follow him. – It's much, much worse.

They went to the side building where they all can rest when nothing is happening. There was a short man waiting for them next to Connie's locker, he had a stern look on his face that made Marco shiver.

-Armin what's this? – He asked taking the sticky-note from the locker.

-Hum…Connie's late again, sir.

-Good morning sir! – Marco said excited. – It's very nice to meet you. I'm your new trainee.

-I know who you are. – He said looking at Marco that, suddenly, looked really out of place and embarrassed. – Shouldn't he be cleaning around, Armin?

-Miss Hanji told us to take care of him, show him around and teach him how the things work around here. – He said awkwardly smiling.

-Hanji… - He hissed trough his teeth. – Ok, get back to work then.

Armin and Marco went back to the main office and sat back down at the desk. Armin started to work again but Marco was just sitting there, looking at the horizon. – What's wrong? – Armin asked.

-I am scared shitless. – Marco said, sweating from all over the place. – That's Levi, right?

-Yep. – Armin popping his lips at the end of the word. – He's a tough cookie but you'll get used to him. – He dropped his pen, rested his elbow on the desk and turned to Marco. – Here's the thing. Don't you ever, and I mean, EVER refuse to do something he told you so. He's our boss, he might be short but he has the strength of ten thousand soldiers. – The blonde man went back to work and left the trainee with that thought.

Marco stared right into Armin's soul. He was amazed. The center was full of strange little creatures. Miss Hanji with her crazy being, Mister Levi with his rudeness, Jean with his horse face; Marco was not excited for having to work with Jean, he was rude and it clearly showed no signs of caring about how he felt. It would be a pain in the ass to work with him but it had to be done.

-Can you please tell me something?

-Yeah.

Marco gulped. The words were not coming out. – Why is Jean such a bitch?

Armin laughed for a few seconds who made Marco laugh too but, in a blink of an eye, Armin was very serious. – Listen to me. I'm not repeating this ever again. – Armin looked Marco in the eyes again and saw the shiver that Marco had. It was a cold look, a look that no one ever saw Armin give. – You're not welcome here. – Marco was terrified and had no words. – Jean doesn't want you here; Mikasa doesn't want you here and neither does Hanji. – Armin got up and stood right behind Marco. – You are a _trainee_, I repeat, a _trainee. _We were good without you anyway, our team was perfect and nobody will change that.

-Armin….

-You know? – Armin said passing his fingers through Marco's hair. – I wish I wasn't telling the truth. You're a very nice boy actually, I have nothing against you, I just think that your presence isn't needed. This center has all the firefighters it needs. I like you, but we don't need you. – Armin was already next to the door and tilted his head back. – If you want that to change, show us you care and that you actually love this center. You'll have to breathe, live and die for this. – The blonde got out and Marco's eyes were watering.

Marco's hand went straight to his head and started to pull his hair. The tears were running down from his eyes and fell down on the papers smudging all he had written. The harsh words that he just heard really got him. Was he really just to fill up space? He wanted to stay there, work there and live there.

-Marco? – Hanji's head peeked on the doorway. – Is everything okay?

Marco swept the tears away quickly and combed his hair with his fingers. – Oh…yeah. – He sniffed. – I was just tired and I miss my family.

-It's your first day. – Hanji said smiling. – It's hard here, but you'll get used to it. – Her eyes examined the whole room and there was someone missing. – Where's Armin?

-Hum… - Hearing that name, made Marco's spine shiver and his heart writhed a little. – I don't know. I think he went to the bathroom. – He sure has hell wasn't going to tell Hanji all about that situation that happened a few minutes before. From now on, he was going to try extra hard.

-Okay. – She said, her voice filled with doubts but she didn't mind to ask him anything about Armin. – How are things? Are you getting the hang of the procedures?

-It's hard but I'll get used to it. – He said smiling. Hanji wasn't all that bad and seemed to care about him. – I'll take this things home and study them all night.

-You do know that there will be no test right? – She asked laughing.

-Well yeah but I want to know all thins things. I want to stay here with you guys. This is my dream ever since I was a kid.

Hanji sat next to him. – You're such a nice kid, Marco. Let's see if I can help you with anything. – She said examining the papers.

-Oh, there's no need for that. Armin's doing an excellent job and you have other things to do, don't you Miss?

-What? – Hanji's head was already deep in the papers and there was nothing that would take her mind of that. – You have a mistake here. You ring the bell every time we get a call and everyone can answer the phone. We don't have money for a stationary secretary.

Marco was getting back into it too. She was a great teacher, messy, very messy but a great teacher. Hanji covered all the important points about the center and the procedures and it seemed that all was going well.

-How about we do a lunch break? – Hanji suggested.

-Hum….it's four in the afternoon. – Marco said laughing quietly.

-Where the fuck is Armin?

-Hum…he was two hours ago and you sent him away to do other things. – Marco said while scratching the back of his neck and laughing. He could now see how this woman was so into her work that didn't even remember what she said while working, it was just like Marco when he got drunk and remembered nothing in the morning after. – He's probably in the lounge or doing some work for Mister Levi. – Marco sniffed.

-Fuck my life. – Hanji said slamming her hands on the desk. She looked through the corner of her eye and saw that Marco was sad. – I guess you can go home or you can wait for the rest to come. – She said smiling.

-They're already here too Miss. – Marco said slowly.

Hanji stood still for a brief seconds and whispered. – I need to get a life. – They both got up and Marco thanked her for the lessons. – And stop calling me Miss Hanji. Call me Hanji, just like everyone does.

-Okay…Hanji.

In the central area Marco got face to face with Jean. He was clearly tired and sleepy. Jean was talking to Sasha and Mikasa while Eren and Connie were listening to what Levi had to say to them.

-You guys are such fucking brats! – Marco heard Levi yelling. – Connie, this is the last time you get late to work. Don't you even dare to do this one more time or you'll be fucked and out in the streets again; and you! – He yelled pointing at Eren. – You better shape up you fucking brat, I'm hundred percent done with your shitty attitude and rude ass manners. You were told to always do what I and Hanji say and that's what you'll do.

Marco abstracted himself from their conversation and went straight to Sasha and the others while Hanji went up to Levi and started to yell at Connie who the only thing he could say was that he was sorry.

-You guys look hungry, tired and sad. – Marco said looking at Sasha, Mikasa and Jean. – Tough day?

-It was awful. – Sasha replied. – We had to take an old lady to the hospital because she fell down the stairs and her head was bleeding. – Marco's eyes widened. – After that, Jean went up to her house and found her dead husband in front of the TV.

-Holy shit. – Marco looked at Jean. – Are you okay?

-Of course I'm okay. – Jean looked at Marco with a angry look. – We are used to seeing things like this. Are you stupid or…?

-Sorry… - Marco said. – I'm just not used to it and I didn't know you guys were.

-It's okay Marco. – Sasha said and grabbed his arm. – Now…a little bird told me you had some food in your locker. – The brunette started to walk with Marco towards his locker. – How about we have a feast?

Marco laughed and so did Mikasa. – Sure thing.

-Don't you dare touching my things! – Jean yelled and Sasha just flipped him off.

Mikasa was staring right at Jean. – What do you have against him? It's his first day here, give him a break.

-He was crying.

-How do you know that?

-I'm not stupid Mikasa, his eyes were red. – Jean said. – Either he was doing drugs with Hanji or he cried.

-And…?

-It means he's not strong enough for this job. Did you see how he reacted when we told him that we had to deal with dead people and blood? If he does get the job, he'll have to deal with that every day and I don't want another Christa.

-We had a deal Jean. Stop mentioning her name. She's part of the past. - They both just stood there. Christa was always on their mind but it wasn't supposed too. Jean saw Christa inside of Marco and Mikasa saw it too but she denied it with all her hearth.

-He won't last a month. – They could hear Sasha and Marco laughing and Connie apologizing. Something seemed off, Jean could feel it.

-Guys, come here. – Levi said and everyone got together. – Today was a great day… - Levi looked around. – Where's Armin?

-I'm here sir. – The blonde said right behind him.

-Moving on. Today was a great day. You all did great. Jean, Mikasa, Sasha congratulations for today. When's the funeral?

-Wednesday. – Mikasa said.

-Okay, so in two day will go to the funeral; it's our job to support this community. – Levi looked at Marco and raised an eyebrow. – Are you happy?

-Hum…yeah, I guess so.

-You have done nothing today but since it was your first day you have an excuse. – He said. – I hope you grow a bit here and learn many things with us. – Levi stretched and looked around again. – You can all go home. Tomorrow is your day off so you can all stay home. Hanji and I are going to have a business meeting with all the other bosses, we'll give you details tomorrow night. Thank you and see you on Wednesday at the same time.

They all went to their lockers that were next to each other. – Hey…hum…Sasha?

-Yeah? – She asked while taking Mikasa's bag out and handing it to her.

-Do you mind if I stay with you tonight?

-Sorry Marco, I have no room for you, I'm really, really sorry. – She said with a sad expression. – But…hum…your little locker friend has.

-You're not going to stay with me.

-Oh…don't be meanie Jean. – Sasha said with a pout. – It's only for a night.

-Actually it was until I found an afford place to live. It's my first time here and I have nowhere to stay. I would stay here but I don't really want to be alone tonight.


End file.
